


The Promise

by EyesOfHorus82



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Family, Family Reunions, Fear, Fire, Force Bond (Star Wars), Good Parent Din Djarin, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Loss, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Protective Din Djarin, Protectiveness, Rescue, Sad Luke, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29630046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EyesOfHorus82/pseuds/EyesOfHorus82
Summary: Years after Grogu was taken, Din still suffered from a severe depression. Unable to accept help from his friends, he continues to live his lonely life in deep space. But one day, someone's calling him....
Kudos: 30





	The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this came from. The idea just popped up in my head and I wrote it down at like 1AM. I'm putting a slight trigger warning for mental health issues and panic attacks on this.

The Promise 

“I see you again, I promise” these were the last words he had said to Grogu before he had left with the Jedi and still, this promise was anchored deep in his heart. Din had no idea how many years had passed since then, it felt like an eternity. Over the years, he kind of accepted that the kid was supposed to be with his kind, but still, the pain was still there. It was constant, like an empty void which never had been filled again. Every night, the mandalorian laid awake, thinking of his child. He had only heard once from him through a hologram transmission. It was so unreal, but at least it was a sign of life. 

From that day on, Din hadn’t heard anything from Grogu anymore. He tried to contact him, but never received an answer. So he spent his days in loneliness in the deep, dark space, bounty hunting from time to time. He tried to keep himself distracted, but then, there were days like this where Grogu was constantly present in his head. Din saw him everywhere, heard his cooes, felt his touches. It was devastating. His friends were trying to help him, but at some point, he broke contact with them, the mandalorian just wanted to be alone. 

But then, there was this particular day, when the nightmares were haunting him worse than ever. Din was lying in his bunk, trying to sleep. He had been having many rough days and his strength was depleted. He felt sore like never before and forced himself to rest, but relieving sleep never came. Instead, he was trapped in his nightmares. And they always considered the child. But this time it was much more intense than he had ever experienced before. He saw fire, he saw death. Bodies were surrounding him, but he was still calling for Grogu. An answer never came. Din was desperate, looking around, finding more and more of the dead children lying on the ground. He had no idea what had happened here. 

Barely able to breathe, he made his way through the burning building. Debris were falling from the ceiling, almost burying him underneath, but he kept calling for his child. Until he found a small body, covered by a torn piece of fabric. Din started running to pick the little body up, but even before he reached him, he knew he was too late. “Grogu!” Djarin yelled and jerked awake from his sleep. He was drenched in sweat and he felt like having a heart attack. It physically hurt. Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings, he was safe in his bunk, but he knew Grogu wasn’t. 

He didn’t feel like himself when he left his bed, he didn’t feel like himself when he entered the cockpit and typed in some coordinates into the nav. His brain was on autopilot until he made the jump into hyperspace. Petrified, he sat in the pilot’s seat, watching the flickering lights passing him. “Where am I? What did I do?” he asked himself when his mind finally came online again. A brief glance on the nav computer told him that he was heading to Yavin 4. Din had never been there and he had no idea why he was flying there. Something told him to. The nightmare, the dream, something must have happened, he knew it, he felt it. Din looked on his side on the panel, where he had left his helmet before he went to sleep. He still used to cover up when he was in public, but when he was alone on the ship, he couldn’t bear to wear it, since he had broken the creed. 

The mandalorian remembered the day, when he showed his face to Grogu. Everyone around him saw him too, but he had never regretted it. But when he was alone, he felt the weight of the beskar even more, it was suffocating him. He had lost purposely to Bo-Katan to pass the DarkSaber to her. It was a rough fight and he got hurt pretty badly to hide that he easily could have defeated her. It was shortly after he had lost Grogu and his mind was far away from that ancient weapon or it’s legacy. After he had recovered from his injuries, Din bought a new ship and cut boundaries to everyone. Cara once said that he is the lonely wolf, retrieving to heal his wounds. She was right, Djarin had no interest in dealing with someone else before he hadn’t managed to sort himself. But he miserably failed to take care of himself.

That all was years ago and he didn’t get any better. He always had hoped that at least Grogu would be able to get rid of the pain of loss, because he knew exactly what those feelings were able to destroy inside someone. And in Din Djarin’s case, they destroyed everything. When he looked in the mirror, he still looked the same, a little aged maybe, but on the inside, he felt dead. He just kept on suffering day for day without any purpose. The only mirror of his soul were his deep brown eyes and that was the only reason for him to keep the helmet on around people, although he had broken the creed and wasn't supposed to wear it anymore. But he had never cared about it. If anyone from the covert would have figured it out, he would have asked for a quick death. 

The more Din was sitting in the pilot’s chair pondering, the darker his thoughts became. He knew, he was depressed and he knew he needed help, but he hadn’t got the strength to open up to someone. He was alone and he would be for the rest of his life, Din thought. Sometimes he was mad at himself for even waking up in the morning, he didn’t want to sometimes and these feelings were getting more and more frequently lately. Suddenly, the mandalorian looked up when the ship’s alarm went off after he had dropped out of hyperspace, he was descending into the atmosphere. 

A gnawing feeling spread in his stomach and Din was actually surprised to feel something again. From afar, he saw smoke ascending from the woodland beneath him. Slowly, the computer piloted the ship and landed on a meadow not far from the fire. When it touched down and the mandalorian powered down the engines a whole monsoon of emotions poured over him. It was fear that cut off his air, making it hard for him to breathe. His heart was painfully throbbing against his ribs, almost bursting through his skin. Old memories popped up in front of his inner eye and every single one hurt to see. It was long ago, when Din suffered from a panic attack like that, but then, there was something that told him to leave the ship and go to the fire, like a distant whisper, but it sounded familiar. “Grogu…” he gasped and peeled himself from the seat, putting on his helmet before he left. 

The air was heavy and the smell of burn even pierced through the filter of his helmet. “I need to go there, he’s calling me…” Din thought desperate. Slowly, he realized that it was his child, who called him here, this wasn’t a dream, this wasn’t a fake image, his depressed brain came up with. This was real and Grogu needed him now. As fast as he could, he sprinted through the woods, always keeping an eye on the smoke to guide himself where he needed to go. After ten minutes of running, he finally reached the burning complex. It was horrifying. “Grogu!” Din called and looked around. No reply. “Grogu, where are you?” Din started running toward the burning temple, but he suddenly stopped when he noticed a cloaked figure was sitting on the grass, a metal hand resting on a blue-white droid beside him. 

When the mandalorian looked at him, he looked into a man’s face or more like the shell of a man he once used to be. Skywalker was broken, his whole life laid in ruins. Din instantly realized who he was. Anger was rising inside of him. “You promised me to protect him!” Djarin yelled and grabbed the other man’s collar. Luke didn’t reply, just looked away. “I’ve trusted you, I’ve trusted you with the life of my kid. You promised me!” he kept yelling at Skywalker. Tears started to run down his face as he shook the Jedi, who remained silent. Now, that he saw Luke in front of him, everything he feared became even more real. Din was panting, his body was shaking. He let go of Luke, who just slammed down on the meadow. 

“I’m so sorry…” the Jedi stammered hoarsely. But these words hurt Din even more. He turned to the burning temple again and started running. Maybe it’s not too late after all? There still was a little spark of hope inside him. He briefly stopped and took a deep breath before he entered the burning temple. The mandalorian tried to keep his focus, but the burnt corpses of its inhabitants made his stomach twist painfully. He went deeper into the temple, some doors were blocked by burning debris. 

Again, Din called for his child and the more time passed the more desperate he became. “Grogu!” the mandalorian screamed, his voice was getting more and more hoarse. But suddenly, he saw a tall figure in the distance and he felt the presence of the child again. Without any hesitation, the mandalorian leaped at the man, who was standing over a small bundle, which was laying there, still and unmoving. “No, no, no…” Din whispered and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the tall man was raising his lightsaber, ready to strike the bundle in front of him. 

Quickly, Din jumped between the lightsaber and the bundle on the ground, burning pain shot through his body as the blade pierced his shoulder. The man with black hair stepped back, when Djarin drew his blaster and laid protectively in front of the bundle. Din’s hand was shaking as he aimed at the man with the glowing blade. But suddenly, a huge burning piece of wood crashed down between them. Fortunately the mandalorian was fast enough to shield the little bundle with his body. He felt his clothes had caught fire on his back, so he rolled over to put it out again. Din looked up, the man with black hair threw one last glance at them, his expression indeterminable.

But in the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving Djarin and Grogu to their fate. Din needed a second to focus again, the pain, the fire everything demanded his attention. But then, he looked down to the bundle, that he was shielding from the fire. Two green ears were peeking out of the brown cloth, he was wrapped into. Grogu’s eyes were shut tightly, he looked peaceful. “No, this isn’t the end…” Din thought, he breathed through his pain and got up, cradling the kid in his arms. They needed to get out of here, quickly. The mandalorian knew that they couldn’t go back the way he came from, so he needed to figure out another way through the flames. 

The smoke started to suffocate him, the filter of his helmet was failing. Panic rose inside his chest, but the boost of adrenaline he received was actually saving their lives, because Din finally found a way out of the temple. When they were out, he was running, just running. Away from the fire and into the woods, he didn’t stop. After a few minutes, exhaustion and pain swept over him and made him collapse on the ground. Djarin was panting and ripped the helmet off his head. His throat and lungs were still filled with smoke, what caused him to cough violently. 

But then, something else demanded his attention again. Grogu. Din put him out of the blanket and first noticed some burning marks on his arms and hands. “Grogu, Grogu please wake up!” the mandalorian called, gently shaking the child. But the little one’s body remained still. Tears started to fill his eyes again. With trembling hands, he tried to feel the kid’s pulse and Din’s heart made a jump when he felt it lightly pounding against his gloved fingertips. But apart from his sudden euphoria he noticed, the child wasn’t breathing. Gently, he tilted the little one’s head back and gave him some rescue breaths. “Come on, come on. Breathe….” he pleaded and tried again after the first attempt failed. “Come on, Grogu. Breathe, please!” Mando stammered desperately. 

But Grogu’s chest remained still. More and more tears were streaming down Din’s face, almost blinding him. “Grogu, don’t leave me. I’m begging you!” Din cried and tried again to breathe life into his child’s lungs. Still in vain. “Don’t go where I can’t follow you….” 

And then after the fourth round of breaths, Grogu started coughing. Slowly, he opened his dark eyes and looked at Din. At first, there was no recollection in them and the mandalorian cradled him closely to his chest, gently patting the kid’s cheek. “Hey, kid. It’s me… You’re safe…. I’m here….. and I’m never gonna leave ever again.” he said, placing a soft kiss on the child’s temple. “Da…. Dada…?” Grogu chirped weakly, but he finally realized that his father was there to protect him. “Yeah… it’s me, Grogu. Don’t worry, I’ve got you….” Din cried and hugged the kid as tight as possible. “Dada, dada!” the little one cried too and nuzzled himself on the mandalorian’s neck. 

And there they sat on the forest soil, crying and comforting each other. Din felt something cracking up inside him. Every emotion he had kept for his kid was bursting out of him now. And the kid, he felt nothing but relief, his father came for him. He has been waiting for this day for so long. “I told you I would see you again, Grogu. I promised you.” Din cried and felt joy and hope filling the void in his heart again. This was the night, when father and son were reunited again, this was the way.


End file.
